RANCHI, JHARKHAND: Here's the seventeenth part of a series on how the government's big-ticket programmes have impacted the hinterland, filed by our reporters from across the country.Officials at Angara, Khunti, Mandar and Kanke blocks of Ranchi district often do not put dates on the application forms of the labourers for work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

No date means the labourers cannot claim unemployment dues as provided for by the Act. The NREGA is a demand driven scheme, which says, the government has to provide 100 days of employment in a financial year to every rural household, whose members are willing to work.

While funds for paying the labourers is provided by the central government, if the blocks in a district fail to provide employment within 15 days of the demand application being submitted, the state government has to pay an unemployment allowance. The unemployment allowance, for the first month is supposed to be one-fourth of the wage. If after this period, employment cannot still be provided, then the state government has to pay an unemployment allowance at the rate of half the wage.

However, taking advantage of the lack of awareness of the fine print of the provisions of the Act, local level officials in these blocks have devised this escape route. If there are no date written on the application form, this means a worker cannot stake claim to having been unemployed for the number of days she has been on the rolls, but not employed. While the district administration has suspended several officials of the block who were found guilty of the practice, it still continues unabated.

Deputy commissioner cum district magistrate of Ranchi, Kamal Kishore Soan told FE that the problems like not letting workers put dates on their application forms was a genuine problem. He said the administration was taking steps to spread awareness so that such problems could be solved.

Ramesh Sharan, professor of economics, Ranchi University and convenor of Nrega Watch, a federation of activists working to ensure that the scheme is successfully implemented, said that the aim of the officials seems to discourage workers from demanding jobs.

He also said that since there was no properly laid down grievance redressal mechanism, whereby workers could complain against such practice, the situation has worsened. According to Sharan, the district administration has so far failed to create a shelf of projects for jobs could be provided to the workers on demand.

A major deficiency in the implementation of the programme in these blocks was the virtual absence of work-site facilities like drinking water, first aid and shades as enunciated in the Act. There was no day care center or crèche too.

Bero (Jharkhand), June 9 : Oraon, a Jharkhand tribal community still settles all disputes within the community at its annual congregation of village heads.

Known as 'Parha Jatra', the congregation of Oraon tribe is a unique system of judicial administration to settle disputes all through the year. The community members strictly follow the rules drafted by the 'Parha'.

The congregation is now held in the form of a fair or 'Jatra' which attracts people of fun and frolic. Each 'Parha' has a minimum of five villages under its jurisdiction and the 'Parha King' is the head of all the villages under his jurisdiction.

'Parha still functions in the traditional way. Every villager follows the guidelines put by Parha. Every custom of tribals is inherent in Parha,' said K.C. Bhagat, a tribal.

All the 'Parha Kings' come to the congregation, sitting on the symbolic animal corresponding to their 'Parha'.

Amidst music and dance, the tribals also get a chance to settle their disputes at the 'Jatra'. These tribals still have faith in their traditional judicial system and they rarely approach police or courts. Even heinous crimes like murder are settled by the 'Parha'.

'Parha is not restricted to a particular community. It's the social and administrative system of all the natives of the region. The relation between Parha and the people is same as the relation between a lake and its inhabitants,' said Vishwa Nath Bhagat, another tribal.

Oraon tribe traces back its origins to the Harappa civilization and is the largest amongst the eight million tribal population in Jharkhand.

MUMBAI, JUN 11: More than 250 companies have applied for the allocation of 17 captive coal blocks with the estimated coal reserves of 3, 440.370 million tonne. The applicants include independent power producers (IPPs) Tata Power Company (TPC), Reliance Energy Ltd, Lanco Infratech, Essar Power, AES Chhattisgarh Energy Pvt Ltd, CESC, Ispat, GMR, Spectrum Power, GVK Power, Jindal Steel & Power and Torrent Power.The captive producers such as Steel Authority of India (SAIL), NTPC-SAIL Power Company, Bharat Aluminium Co (Balco) and Uttam Galva Steel have also submitted their applications to the screening committee attached to the coal ministry.This apart, various state utilities including Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam, West Bengal Power development Corporation, Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board, Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation, Jharkhand State Electricity Board, Karnataka Power Corporation have also submitted applications.

The list of applicants also include companies which have made foray into power sector. These companies include Emco Energy Ltd (which is setting up power projects in the coal rich Vidarbha region, Maharashtra), JLD Yavatmal Energy, Baidyanath Power and Mining, Abhishek Thermal Power.

These blocks, which are earmarked for power sector, are situated in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal. The screening committee has convened meeting with these applicants from June 20 to 23 in New Delhi.

Carbon Rush• Blocks situated: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal• Preference: Will be accorded to the power and the steel sectors• 3,440.370 mtn: Coal reserves in 17 blocks

The IPPs have already planned capacity addition by setting up 500-mw-project to projects of more than 1,000 mw in various states during the 11th plan period.

Further, applicants also include companies, which have planned the development of merchant power plants as per the centre's recent policy. The coal ministry has made it clear that preference will be accorded to the power and the steel sectors. Within the power sector also, priority would be accorded to projects with more than 500 mw capacities.

Similarly, in steel sector, priority would be given to steel plants with more than 1 million tonne per annum capacity.

Ranchi, June 11: No fresher has ever left Netarhat Public School due to ragging, asserted school authorities on Monday following media reports to this effect.

The student in question, said principal B.K. Karn, left in April complaining of home-sickness and after not being able to adjust with school traditions that require students to clean rooms, toilets, fetch water and wash clothes.

Ever since the residential school was set up over 50 years ago, he said, students in hostels, which are called ashrams at Netarhat, have been trained to become self-sufficient and learn the dignity of labour.

But the son of a college professor from Dumka, said the authorities, found it difficult to follow. His parents, too, objected to the practice and complained that students should not be made to "waste" their time in such chores. Finally, the student left for home in April and never returned.

The charge that he left because of ragging is both unfounded and mischievous, said the principal over the phone. It is once again a tradition at Netarhat that a room is shared by students from different classes and a senior student is designated as the mentor for the freshers. In this case, the mentor, a Class X student, had merely insisted that the fresher must follow the tradition, the principal said.

The boy, claimed other teachers, had never done any work at home. Pampered and fussed, he found it difficult to adjust to the austere and spartan lifestyle encouraged by the school, set up by the Bihar government in the fifties and which is now under the control of the Jharkhand government.

"He hardly lived here for two months during which his parents visited him several times. Once his parents even questioned the tradition as they believed students should come to school only for studies,"said the principal, adding, "but this is a residential school with unique traditions." Earlier batches, he said, faced greater hardship with water and electricity supplies being erratic.

Confirming the tradition, an IAS officer and the state's HRD secretary J.B. Tubid, himself a former "Haatian" as Netarhat old-boys are known, said he is proud of being a "Haatian" and that he recalls washing even others' utensils and clothes when the latter fell ill.

NEW DELHI, JUNE 11: Even as state-owned banks have disbursed agriculture loans of over Rs 2 lakh in 2006-07, 73% of the farm households still have no access to formal credit sources. Northeastern states of Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam , Mizoram and Manipur, apart from Jharkhand and Uttaranchal, have achieved a financial inclusion of 25%.Dismal Scenario

• Only 25% of financial inclusion has been achieved by north-eastern states• Most farmers still prefer to borrow from non-institutional sources• Relief packages hardly reach the needy in absence of proper channels• Finmin to ask banks to increase loan accounts and not just loan amounts

According to an official source, the main cause for concern is the fact that most farming households still prefer to borrow from non-institutional sources. Even relief packages for farmers, as and when announced by the government, do not actually reach the poor and the needy, since they are not serviced through formal channels. It may be noted that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced a relief package of about Rs 700 crore in 2006-07 to help farmers in distress.

The finance ministry is likely to put pressure on banks to increase loan accounts rather than focussing only on increasing loan amounts. According to the Rangarajan Committee on financial inclusion, in terms of absolute numbers, northeastern, eastern and central region together account for 68% of non-indebted farm households.

Large-scale farmers suicide in 2006-07 had caused much embarrassment to the UPA government. Finance minister P Chidambaram, in his Budget announcement for 2007-08, had asked state-owned banks to continue providing farm credit at 7%. The Centre may even ask banks to set disbursement targets separately for production and investment, though both fall under the broad category of farm loan. The fact that 73% of farmers is still outside the purview of institutional source reflects that larger amount is being disbursed to farmers, who are already in the banking net

Ranchi, June 10: Several parts of the state today went without power after fierce winds and torrential rain lashed southern Jharkhand.

The generation at the state's two thermal power units hovered around 245MW against the demand of 573MW.

However, residents were relieved as temperatures plummeted due to the rain.

The Ranchi Met office has forecast a partly clouded sky with the possibility of rains and thundershowers over the next 24 hours.

"Today's thundershowers were cause by a low pressure over this region. The low pressure is a result of prolonged heat," said weather scientist at Birsa Agriculture University A. Wadood dismissing possibilities of early monsoon.

Meanwhile, fear of lightning strikes shut down power substations.

The power supply from the thermal power stations Tenughat Vidyut Nigam Ltd (TVNL) and Patratu Thermal Power Station (PTPS) was about 245MW, against an aggregate demand of 550MW. Only one unit functioned at TVNL today, generating around 200MW, while PTPS contributed 45MW to the state grid.

Desperate attempts to bridge this shortfall were made by overdrawing from the central sector.

Figures released by the Power Grid Corporation Ltd today indicated that in the afternoon, Jharkhand was drawing as much as 324MW from the central grid against its planned allocation of around 250MW. By evening, Jharkhand electricity board reduced its withdrawal from the central grid to 250MW.

An acute power crisis is set to hit the state because of a breakdown of the second unit at TVNL. The unit had sustained heavy damage following breakage of its turbine blades, which triggered off a chain reaction in the unit.

Eight members of a family were killed Thursday in Lohardagga district of Jharkhand over a family dispute.

Police said Mohmmad Hanif, a resident of Mukunda village in Lohardagga district, some 90 km from Ranchi, was killed along with his wife and six children.

They were killed with sharp edged weapons. ' Hanif's brother murdered them over a family dispute,' G.S. Rath, additional director general of police, told IANS. He did not elaborate on the nature of the quarrel.

Police have launched an operation to arrest the killers and the bodies have been sent to a local hospital for post mortem.

Ranchi, June 6: Jharkhand tribals are protesting against the visit of a Delimitation Commission team to redraw the boundaries of Parliament and State legislature seats.

The tribals are agitated over the fact that the reserved seats in the 81-member Assembly have been reduced from 35 to 28, and are now being further brought down to 22 in line with their population, which is based on the 2001census.

"We will not tolerate this injustice being meted out to the tribal community of Jharkhand. The members of the delimitation commission are going to arrive tomorrow (June 7), and we will not allow them to land here" said, Hemchand Murmu, a tribal protestor on Wednesday.Besides, one Lok Sabha seat is likely to be removed from the list of reserved tribal seats.

"We will take every measure to stop the Delimitation Commission from landing in Jharkhand. We will compel them to leave Jharkhand," said Mary Hembrom, a tribal woman protestor.

Under Article 82 of the Constitution, the Parliament by law enacts a Delimitation Act after every census, whereby a Delimitation Commission is constituted to demarcate the boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies as per provisions of the Delimitation Act.

The present delimitation of constituencies was based on 1971 Census figures. The Constitution was specifically amended in 1976 not to have a delimitation of constituencies till the first census after 2000. Thus, the constituencies carved out on the basis of 1971 census are still in vogue.

The census data of 2001 was released on December 31, 2003. Using these figures, a new delimitation exercise is under way.

The main task of this commission is to readjust the territorial constituencies for both the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies on the basis of Census figures, without affecting the total number of seats allocated to each State in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assembly.

Its other task is to decide on the seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies, on the basis of the census figures.

Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2001, after nearly five decades of protests by locals, mainly tribals who comprise around 28 percent of the State's population.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (a regional political party enjoying tribal support) had then led the protests for the formation of the state and it is now again at the forefront of the agitation against the reduction of reserved tribal seats in the State Assembly and the Parliament.

The Jharkhand postal department has decided to step into the family planning programme and has started delivering condoms and contraceptives to people, especially in remote areas.

The department has tied up with Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust in this initiative, which helps those hesitant to buy condoms from shops to get them at home. The move was initiated last week.

"The idea is to promote family planning. Through post offices we deliver 16 products, including condoms, contraceptives, sanitary napkins and nappies, to people in remote areas," said Anil Kumar, director of the head post office in Ranchi.

"We (postal department) will get 30 percent as commission on the products sold," Kumar said.

The postmen who carry out the innovative idea are enthusiastic about their additional responsibility.

Said Deendayal, a postman: "We interact with people and make them aware about the importance of using condoms."

Ranchi, June 9: Japanese consul-general in India Noro Motoyoshi stressed on the importance of a comprehensive infrastructure for development of the state here today.

The consul said that the road-railway-seaport link is crucial for any state and Jharkhand should renew its ties with Calcutta that is the nearest port.

Emphasising on the condition of roads in the state and in the country as a whole, Motoyoshi said improving roads was a challenge for the nation. "Roads need to be widened and smoothened to improve the economical condition of the state and the country. Communication has a direct link with the development of the state," he added.

Disclosing about various schemes and projects, Motoyoshi said that the Japanese government, in its bid to observe the cultural agreement entered into by India and Japan, is committed to help the country in its path of development.

Motoyoshi, while addressing newsmen today, also sported a symbol of the existing friendship ties in the form of a traditional Japanese fan with the Tricolour painted on it.

The consul on his three-day tour in the state met government officials and other dignitaries discussing the role of the two countries in promoting infrastructural, political, economical, military and cultural ties.

Lauding Jharkhand Education Council for its efforts, Motoyoshi said elementary education for children is the first step towards development. The mid-day meal scheme for school children and scholarships have been instrumental in checking the school dropout ratio, he added.

Motoyoshi also said the Japanese government has sanctioned Rs 550 crore towards installation of a super thermal power project at North Karnpura, work for which has already started. "Our government is committed to help the state, but a proposal has to be made first through the Union government and then we will decide on the modalities," he added.

Later in the day, Motoyoshi met Ranchi University vice-chancellor A.A. Khan in his office.

Jamshedpur, June 10: In its latest effort to stop power theft, Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) has constituted a 10-member anti-power theft wing at its headquarters, headed by Shashi Bhushan Sharma, a senior executive engineer of the board.

The wing would identify industries and individuals indulging in power theft, JSEB officials said. Action against the guilty would be taken based on the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003. Speaking to The Telegraph, Sharma said the wing will co-ordinate with the five area boards and conduct raids at regular intervals.

"The activities of the wing will be monitored by the chairman himself," said Sharma.

JSEB sources said the decision to constitute the wing was taken because of widespread electricity theft across the state.

Citing examples, board official said the Adityapur industrial area in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district causes the board an annual loss of Rs 4 crore through power theft.

Similarly, power theft causes an annual loss of Rs 15 crore for the JSEB headquarters in Ranchi from the Ranchi Industrial Area Development Authority (RIADA) and Bokaro Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA).

Over the years, as industrial units and residential areas burgeoned, the problem became more acute, causing huge losses to the JSEB.

Though area boards of JSEB have conducted raids in the past to check electricity theft, the raids have mostly been toothless as the officials allegedly connive with the guilty.

Promising that the raids conducted now would be different, Sharma said that the wing members can swoop in on any commercial or residential complex without warning. "Earlier, there were even six-month gaps between raids, which diluted their impact. Now, raids would be frequent," he said.

"The team will be accountable as it will have to prepare a report for the chairman after each raid," Sharma added, hoping it would also create more transparency in the process.

General manager of Singhbhum area board, P. R. Ranjan admitted to a rampant increase in electricity thefts in the past few years. Most cases under Singhbhum area board come from Adityapur and Mango, where numerous small and medium-scale industries continue to violate the act by pilfering electricity, he said.

Jamshedpur, June 10: The human resource development department is set to enforce certain strict measures on intermediate institutions across the state in the wake of this year's dismal results.

Sources in the edu- cation department said HRD secretary J.B. Tubid has decided to convene a meeting of principals of intermediate schools and colleges across the state.

The meeting, which is slated to take place in Ranchi during the third week of June, will review this year's performance of intermediate results and issue necessary directives to the principals to ensure better results in the future.

The intermediate results was far below expectations, HRD minister Bandhu Tirkey told The Telegraph. This is the reason for convening the meeting, he confirmed.

"The state's interme- diate students failed to achieve the success rate of this year's matriculate examinees for the second consecutive year. This is a serious issue that needs to be discussed with the school principals," he added.

About 55 per cent of the candidates, who had appeared for the intermediate science examinations this year, have failed.

Students in the commerce and arts streams fared marginally better than the state average, recording a failure percentage of 30.12 and 25.82 per cent, respectively.

Science stream students recorded the lowest success rate with only 45 per cent of the candidates passing.

The dismal performance of students is being attributed to the poor way in which some colleges were run.

Colleges affiliated to the universities is responsible for the poor performance, said the Jharkhand Academic Council, which conducts the intermediate examination.

Chairman of the council Shaligram Yadav said neither did the colleges adhere to the terms specified by the CBSE nor did it implement the curriculum properly.

Though the CBSE advocates 220 teaching days a year, the colleges organised only 150 classes.

The council had direc- ted the institutions to orga- nise classes during the summer and Durga Puja vacations to compensate the academic loss.

However, most institutions did not follow that directive.

"At the meeting we will issue strict guidelines aim- ed at improving the perfor-mance of students appearing for exams next year. Necessary action would be taken against the heads of institutions failing to abide by the guidelines," he added.

JAMSHEDPUR: Ten colleges affiliated to Ranchi University in Jharkhand would soon be made hi-tech. The university administration has prepared a proposal for the same which will soon be submitted to the state human resource development department, said sources in the Ranchi University.

According to the proposal, 10 colleges would be equipped with all networking facilities. Also, all the colleges will be connected to the university headquarters through the network. Each college will have at least 10 computers for storing important information. The proposal also talks about a website for each college. The state government is reported to have assured the Ranchi University of a grant in this regard.

The broadband services would also be made available to the students in these colleges very soon- Ranchi College, Ranchi Women's College, Marwari College in Ranchi, Jamshedpur Women's College, Co-operative College, Graduate School College for Women in Jamshedpur, Tata College Chaibasa, Women's College Chaibasa, GLA College Daltonganj and YSN Women's College Daltonganj . Jharkhand has three universities and Ranchi University is the oldest of them. The university has a total student intake of around 90,000 students from its affiliated colleges. There are a total of 35 constituent colleges and 29 affiliated colleges of Ranchi University. The colleges under Ranchi University offer courses in medical, engineering, management, science, arts and law streams

June 7: Robbers today looted the main branch of the Syndicate Bank in Ranchi and decamped with 20 million rupees (500,000 dollars).There were six robbers who held the employees and customers captive while emptying cash vaults of the bank, which is located in the busy Albert Ekka Square, barely 300 meters from a police station."They (robbers) took the customers and employees captive and made them sit on the ground in a room. The forcibly took the keys from the bank manager and emptied the locker of all its contents. It seems they have decamped with some rupees 20 million," said Ranchi Superintendent of Police, Richard Lakda.

Police has begun investigations, with the help of sniffer dogs.

"When I entered the bank at around 10.15 in the morning, the robbers were already inside and were holding some 25 people captive. Four of them were inside and one of them was standing at the flexible gate and pulled me inside as soon as I came. Then he tried to snatch my cell phone from me, which I resisted, on which he threatened to kill me with his revolver. In the ensuing scuffle, I was hit on the head by one of the robbers and this left me bleeding," said Satish Kumar, data management operator of the bank.